Variable diameter rotor for manifold valves



Jan. 2, 1951 F. A. MCDONALD 2,536,199

VARIABLE DIAMETER ROTOR FOR MANIFOLD VALVES Filed NOV. 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l JNVEN TOR. Z'YYA/VK A .M-QDONALD BY M, f M1 ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 2, 1951 F. A. MCDONALD 2,536,199

VARIABLE DIAMETER ROTOR FOR MANIFOLD VALVES Filed Nov. 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 2, 1.951

UNITED STATES OFFICE VARIABLE'DIAMETEE. ROTOR 1170B MANIFOLD VALVES.

Frank'A. McDonald; San Francisco, Calif.

Application November 1'7, 1947, Serial; No, 3255555A4511-v 1 claims. (01. am -.101.)

and itrwas. found that a change temperatureora. change in the dispensing of one liquid to another; the split rotorrim would expand to a point, whereit would tend to freeze? within the valve-casing. Under such conditions it would. be difficult, if not impossible, torotate the valve rotor into a new position.

The principal object ofmy present invention is. to provide a manifold valve in which novel means. is used for changing the outer diameter of the split rimof the rotor so as to; prevent. any tendency of the rotor to freeze withinthe'valve casing;

A further object of my invention is to providea device of the. type described in which the means for changing the outer. die meter of the; split. rotor is carried by the rotor itself and is readil -accessible for ad ustment the more. removal of the valve casingcover;

Another object. of my invention isto provide a device oiv the type. described inwhich the means foraltering the outer diameter of the split rotor rim. is. controlled from a point. near the topsof the valve casing yetv the. acti-ial contraction of the rim isaccomplished at apcint; midway between; its too and bottom. In. this way auniform, retraction-or expansion of the; rotor is efiectsd;

My device is simple in construction and may beattached to the split rotor with but slight alterations being necessary in the latter.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed. out. in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application in which;

Figure. l isa top. plan view-J01 the1 vinaniiioltl valve, a portion being broken away for clarity;

FigureZ is a vertical section through the; manlfold valve with portions being shown in elevation;

Figure 3 is. a top. plan view of the rotor shown apart from the valve casing;

Figure. 4 is, a vertical section taken along the. 111.18- IV-IV of Figure. 3.;

Figure 5,- is a horizontalenlarged section taken along the line V .V of Figure 4; and,

Figure 6 is perspective view of the adjusting means. for the split. .rotor..

While. have, shown, only the preferred.- form of. my invention, itcshould be understood that various changes. or modifications may be made within the scope of. the.- appended claims without. departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 carrying outmy invention I provide a valve casing indicated generally'at A in Figures l and 2,.v

Theca-singhasa plurality of inletv ports A1 to A5, inclusive. It will be noted that one, more. inlet port. is shown in the present valve casing than is shown: in the. patented valve above mentioned. I. do not wish to be. confined to any particular number of ports. The inlet ports receive inlet pipes; 33 t to. B5. inclusive and these communicate with various tan-ks... not shown, containing differ! ent. liquids; such as: gasoline, kerosene, etc. An outlet portAB. leads. item the lower portionof the valve casing A as shown in Figure .2 and an, outlet pipe B5 communicates with this, port.

I provide. a, split rotor C and rotatably mount 7 this; rotorwithin thevalve casing. Figure 3; shows the rotor C- provided with a rim I that is splitat 24 The cylindrical surface of the rim I is pro! vided with; neoprene seals or other sealing medium which coact; with the. inner surface of the valve; casing to prevent. leakage of any liquid.

Referring to Figures 2 and '3, it will bev noted that thei'otor C. has an. inverted L-shaped fluid passage Cl thathasan entrance opening 3- which is designed to, communicate. with anvselected one of the inlet, ports AI- torAi, inclusive. The pas, sage C] also has an outlet 4 that. is aligned with the casing outlet. A6: and with the outlet pipe B6. The, Wall of the passage Cl has its entrance end 3 made integral with the rim I of the rotor and has its outlet end disposed concentric with the rotor axis and also with the axes of the, casing outlet A5 and;v outlet pipe B6. A neoprene ring gasket 5 bears against the bevelled outletv end 4 of the passage Cl and is received in an annular recess 6 positioned close to the casing outlet AG. The. rim I of the rotor has grooves for re calving a plurality or vertically disposed linear seal "1, prefera ly made of p ne and; these seals are arranged to straddle the'sides 0f.- llhfi inlet ports A} to A5 inclusive}, when the rotor is in. one of, its selected positions. This arrangement; pre v nts the liquid in the inlet ports disposed adja.-. cent to the entrance 3 of, the passage Cl from flowin into the. pass seaud contaminating the li uid being. drawn from the selected; inlet In addition. the rotor rim I has circular gaskets placed at the top and bottom of the inlet 3 and these gaskets prevent the flow of liquid from any of the inlet ports into the interior of the manifold casing A.

I provide a cover D for the casing A and this cover is held in place by cap screws 9 or other suitable fasten ng means. The cover has an annular seal I placed between its rim and the top of the casing. The split rotor has an upwardly extending shank II that is integral with the wall of the passage Cl and is axially aligned with the rotor axis and with the casing axis. The shank extends through a bearing l2 provided in the cover.

A hand e E is pivotally connected at I3 to the shank so that the handle can rock about a hori-' The handle is connected to the zontal axis.

there is plenty of room for tightening or loosening the nut 31 for altering the compressive force of the springs. Even though the adjustment is made at the top of the rotor for tightening the nut, the actual retracting force of the springs is applied to the split rim midway between the top and bottom of the rotor. In this way the retraction will be uniform and the top of the rotor rim will be kept at the same diameter as the bottom of the rim.

The tendency of the split rim is to spring outwardly and the coil springs 34 and 36 tend to retract the rim. Should the split rim contact with the inner cylindrical surface of the casing to too great an. extent so as to make it difficult to rotate the rotor, the cover can be removed and then the adjustment made by tightening the nut shank l I so that a swinging of the handle radially aroundthe casing axis will rotate the rotor therewith. A lug i4 is carried by the handle and is designed to enter the selected notch l5 provided in the cover. In this way the entrance 3 of the rotor passage C! can be brought into accurate registration with any desired one of the inlet ports Al to A5, inclusive. The handle E extends in the direction of the selected port so the operator knows with which port the passage Cl is aligned. Figure 2 shows a spring-pressed seal 16 for the shank l to make a liquid-tight-fit between the shank and the cover. I V

I will now describe the novel means for changing the outer diameter of the split rim I for causing the rim to contact with the inner cylindr cal surface of the rotor without creating undue fr ction therewith. In Fi ures 4 and 6 I show the ends la and lb (see also Figure 5) of the split rim with threaded supporting members I! and I 8, respectively. Fi ure 6 clearly shows how the supporting members l1 and I8 are provided with flat bearing surfaces l9 and 20, respectively.

A pivoted yoke indicated generally at F in Figure 6 has one lever 25 provided with a lateral projection 22 that is ivotally supported on the fiat bearing surface 19 by a cotter pin 23 or the like. A second lever 24 has a lateral projection 25 that rests on the flat bearing surface and is pivotally co nected thereto by a cotter pin 26 Or the like. The two levers 2| and 24 are pivotally connected to each other at their lower ends by a rivet 21.

Figure 4 illustrates how the upper ends of the levers 2! and 24 are provided with ears 28 and 2B, 'resnectivelv, these ears be ng formed with central bores 39 and 3! for s idably receiving the shank' 32 of an adjutihg bolt 33. A coil spring 34 is placed between the ear 29 and the bolt head 35. A second coil spring 36 is placed between the ear-'28 and a nut 37 that is mounted on the threaded portion 38 of the bolt. The construction is such that the coil springs 34 and 36 will urge the ears 28 and 28 toward each other and this will cause the levers 2| and 24 to be urged toward each other and pivot about their connecting pin 21. The projections 22 and on the levers will also be urged toward each other and they will tend to move the members I! and I8 toward each other for reducing the diameter of the split ring I.

7 'One of the novel features of the invention is the placement of the rim adjusting means at the top of the split rotor where access may be had to it upon removal of the valve casing cover D. Figure 2 illustrates how the adjusting bolt 33 is positioned near the top of the casing 'A where 31. No machining of the rim to reduce its diamand extending substantially throughout the" height of the rotor rim, the levers being pivotally connected together at one end, said levers hav-' ing their midportions connected to the projections, and adjustable yielding means interconnecting the opposite ends of the levers for yield ingly urging these ends toward each other, whereby the levers will yieldingly urge the rim ends toward each other, the force being exerted on the projections so as to apply the yielding rim-contracting force substantially midway be-" tween the top and bottom of the rotor while permitting adjustment of the means at the rotor top.

2. A rotor for a valve having a cylindrical split rim, the ends of the rim being spaced from each other a slight distance, a pair of inwardly extending projections, one being carried by each 'end' of the split rim and being disposed substantiallymidway between the top and bottom of the rim,

a pair of levers disposed within the split rim and extending substantially throughout the height of the rotor rim, the'levers being pivotally connected together at one end, said levers having their midportions connected to the projections, and ad-'-" justable yielding means interconnecting the opposite ends of the levers for yieldingly urging these ends toward each other, whereby the levers a will yieldin'gly urge the rim ends toward each other, the force being exerted on the projections so as to apply the yielding rim-contracting force substantially midway between the top and bottom of the rotor while permitting adjustment ofthe means at the rotor top, said yielding means comprising a bolt having a head with a shank slidably received in the said opposite lever ends,

a nut adjustable on the shank, a coil spring mounted on the shank and disposed between the head and one lever end, and a second coil spring mounted on the shank an'd di'sposed between the nut and the other lever end.

3. A rotor for a valve having a cylindrical split the levers being pivotally connected together at one end. and adjustable yielding means connecting the opposite ends of the levers together so that the cylindrical split rim will have a yieldin force exerted on the split rim ends substantially midway between the ends of the rotor while permitting adjustment of the means at one end of the rotor.

4. A rotor for a valve having a cylindrical split longitudinal rim to define two rim ends; a pair of levers mounted within the rim with one being disposed on each side of the split, the mid portions of the levers being connected to' the rim ends at points substantially midway along the length of the split; the levers being pivotally connected together at one end; and adjustable yielding means connecting the opposite ends of the levers together so that the cylindrical split rim will have a yielding force exerted on the split rim ends at points substantially midway between the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 867,289 McConnell Oct. 1, 1907 2,024,457 Kourimsky Dec. 17, 1935 2,024,620 Yoder Dec. 17, 1935 2,249,704 Detjen July 15, 1941 2,341,531 Dand Feb. 15, 1944 

